FACT CHECK | Claim that ICC has not acted on the situation in Palestine is misleading

Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte claimed in a statement posted Saturday, February 28 on his Facebook page that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has turned “blind, deaf, and mute” to events related to the military confrontation between Iran and the combined forces of the United States and Israel. “No emergency statements. No dramatic press briefings. No urgency to assert jurisdiction.” 

He added this is similar to the tribunal dragging its feet on the situation in Palestine whose people “have endured mass killings, displacement, and the systematic destruction of civilian life. Entire families wiped out. Children buried under rubble.”

“Yet the ICC hesitates, delays, and hides behind legal technicalities—while pretending to be the world’s court of last resort,” he noted. 

According to him, the ICC’s alleged inaction on the situation in Palestine contrasts with how it “suddenly finds its voice, its urgency, and its manufactured moral courage” in the case of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

The claim is misleading. 

MindaNews fact-checked this claim because the post has received 2.3k shares, 848 comments, and 15k reactions as of March 5, 6:50 p.m.

Several of the comments said the ICC has not acted because it has not received bribes, echoing accusations by Duterte supporters that the court ordered the former President’s arrest after getting sums of money from the Philippine government. 

Among the comments were: “Tikom bibig ng icc sa issue na yan kasi wala silang maletang natanggap hahaha” (The ICC is silent because they didn’t receive any suitcase), “Pera pera lang” (It’s all about money), and “Wala Kasi daw maleta na binigay kaya no comment daw Sila” (No suitcase was given that’s why they won’t comment).

The Facts

The ICC issued on 21 November 2024 an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for allegedly being responsible for war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.

It was on 8 October 2023 that the Israeli military renewed offensives in Gaza, a day after the resistance group Hamas launched an attack somewhere along the border with Israel. Israel has since carried out bombings and ground operations that have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians, many of them children.

In a press release on the same day, the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were issued, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said it had rejected Israel’s challenge of jurisdiction.

The Chamber noted that on 1 January 2015, The State of Palestine lodged a declaration under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute accepting jurisdiction of the Court since 13 June 2014, and on the following day acceded to the treaty by depositing its instrument of accession with the UN Secretary-General. The Rome Statute entered into force for The State of Palestine on 1 April 2015, making it a State Party to the agreement.

In its 21 November 2024 decision, the Chamber ruled that Israel’s acceptance of jurisdiction is not required because the court’s jurisdiction is based on territory         rather than nationality. As explained by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, “This means that the ICC can prosecute crimes committed on the territory of a State Party, even if the person accused is a national of a non-member state. Jurisdiction in this case is based on where the crime occurred, Palestine, and not the nationality of the alleged perpetrators.”

Israel, just like the US and other major powers like China and Russia, is not a member of the ICC.

On 22 May 2018, pursuant to articles 13(a) and 14 of the Rome Statute, The State of Palestine referred to the Prosecutor the Situation since 13 June 2014, with no end date, according to the press release.

The investigation into the situation in Palestine opened on 3 March 2021 – more than two years before the start of renewed hostilities in October 2023– following the Chamber’s decision on 5 February 2021 that “the Court could exercise its criminal jurisdiction in the Situation and, by majority, that the territorial scope of this jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

“On 17 November 2023, the Office of the Prosecutor received a further referral of the Situation in the State of Palestine, from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, and Djibouti, and on 18 January 2024, the Republic of Chile and the United Mexican State additionally submitted a referral to the Prosecutor with respect to the situation in The State of Palestine,” according to the 21 November 2024 press release. 

Why Netanyahu, Gallant have not been arrested

The ICC does not have its own police force. Based on the Rome Statute it relies on State cooperation, which is essential to the arrest and surrender of suspects. As the court explains, “The responsibility to enforce warrants of arrest in all cases remains with States. In establishing the ICC, the States set up a system based on two pillars. The Court itself is the judicial pillar. The operational pillar belongs to States, including the enforcement of Court orders.”

Various media organizations have reported that Netanyahu has been avoiding visits to ICC member-states where he could be arrested. 

But in April 2025, Netanyahu visited Hungary, an ICC-member state, on the invitation of Prime Minister Viktor Orban who had criticized the ICC’s issuance of a warrant to arrest Netanyahu. 

After Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary, the ICC asked the host country to explain why it did not enforce the arrest warrant on the Israeli leader. The Court said Hungary violated its obligations by refusing to detain Netanyahu despite an official request sent by the Court to Budapest on April 3, the day the premier landed in the country. 

Shortly before meeting with Netanyahu, Prime Minister Orban announced that Hungary would be withdrawing from the ICC, The Times of Israel reported. 

Hungary’s parliament approved the withdrawal in May 2025. But Hungary remains a member of the ICC until June 2, 2026 because under the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, withdrawal takes effect one year after the formal notice is submitted to the United Nations.

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes fact check leads or suggestions from the public. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)